Nicknames

15-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Saturday, March 11, 1911: I had to bustle around and do some work today. I did most of it this forenoon and too a rest this afternoon. Helen Wesner alias Tweet was coming down to go along with Rufus to a play at W. tonight and I poor kid had to stay at home.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

This is the first time in the diary that Grandma referred to Helen Wesner as Tweet—though she’s previously mentioned her. (And, be sure to see the Tweet ‘Tweeting’ posting.)

Grandma calls her sister Ruth Rufus in this entry. Both Ruth and Helen were three years older than Grandma. W. probably refers to the nearby town of Watsontown.